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Boulder's Flagstaff House remodels as menu offers evolved classics

Old and new

By Cindy Sutter

Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
05/07/2014 08:53:02 AM MDT

Updated:
05/07/2014 09:05:47 AM MDT

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It's a classy problem for a restaurant to have.

Forty-plus years to build a 15,000-bottle wine cellar that merits the Wine Spectator's Grand Award, a paid-for property that features a stunning view, unduplicated elsewhere. A family spanning three generations dedicated to preserving the restaurant's reputation and status in the community.

Yet such iconic restaurants can falter, says Denver restaurant consultant John Imbergamo, as they try to thread the needle between tradition and keeping up with what's new in the food world.

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"It's difficult to make radical changes or multiple changes without losing those regulars with an institutional memory. It's (also) difficult to attract people who doubt they will have made those changes," he says. "In some cases, it's the worst of both worlds."

Boulder's Flagstaff House, however, has worked very hard over its 40-plus years to keep its distinctive elegance, while letting the restaurant evolve into the modern age.

Pecan-crusted halibut with peas, asparagus and wild rice is a nod to spring from the Flagstaff House chef de cuisine, Chris Royster, 24. For more pictures and videos of the Flagstaff house, visit dailycamera.com. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

The most recent change is a remodel of the restaurant to give it a sleeker, open, more contemporary look, while keeping its traditions very firmly in place. Business casual will still be the most casual attire allowed, table 6 will remain the spot in Boulder where the hopeful presentation of an engagement ring most frequently occurs, and, as happened recently, an oenophile will order — and the table will drink — a $2,000 bottle of Chateau Mouton Rothschild. Although nowadays, the wine list is on an iPad.

Scott Monette shows off the new wine cabinet at the entrance. It's currently missing one of its bottles, recently ordered by a customer at $2,000. (Cliff Grassmick / Daily Camera)

Likewise, the menu has seen clever nods to the ingredient-obsessed, meat-curing, vegetable-worshipping world of modern restaurant cuisine. The food is still the baby of classically trained chef Mark Monette, but he has a young protege in Chris Royster, 24, who likes to dabble in molecular gastronomy — in a somewhat understated, Flagstaffy kind of way. That might mean that the broth for a tomato consumme will be clarified with gelatin, rather than the traditional egg whites. Or that a ginger infusion that adorns a foie gras appetizer will be thickened with xantham gum rather than reduced, resulting in a fresher, more vibrant flavor.

On occasion, the restaurant has even dipped a toe in more post-modernist waters as when Royster made a rabbit ravioli special in which the rabbit forcemeat was contained in a rabbit-belly ravioli wrapper held together with meat glue, a.k.a. transglutaminase. Gluten-free diners and vegans are graciously accommodated. Bacon and bresaola is cured in-house. Ricotta and yogurt are house-made Bread is baked in Flagstaff ovens, and — much less common — the restaurant makes its own butter from local, organic cream.

These are the things that draw the new customers.

Scott Monette, brother of Mark, and son of Don Monette, who bought the place in 1971, says the restaurant has a young clientele, in addition to its older regulars.

"The truth is this generation is engaged with food more than ever," he says. "The 20-somethings take pictures on their cell phones. They're excited."

But, the old guard doesn't have much to worry about. Plenty of the familiar mix of luxury and classic technique is still there for the ordering. Wagyu beef, from Colorado or Japan, is portioned to preference by the ounce with a 3-ounce minimum and served with gussied-up, but traditional, accompaniments. Colorado rack of lamb is a standby, and ossetra caviar awaits its spoon.

How does the restaurant look?

When you have a view that spans mountains and the red tile roofs of the University of Colorado, a good rule for a decorator is to get out of the way. Thus, the chairs are upholstered with a burgundy pattern than forms (at least in spring and summer) a complementary color pallette with the green mountains. Walls are covered in cream color that hints at green. Original artwork that will rotate adorns the walls that aren't made from glass. Trim that was once oak is now a rich cherry. Small touches of rock tile bring in the outside. An LED-lit pedestal, flanked by glass panels spotlights a piece of Australian glass collected by Don Monette.

Artichoke light fixtures like those in the Sidney Opera House, ("We call them pinecones," Scott Monette says) dot the ceiling. An oak cabinet in the entrance once displayed the restaurant's complete Chateau Mouton Rothschild collection of the artist paintings of labels since 1945, one of the few complete collections in the world. The oak has given way to a temperature-controlled glass cabinet, complete with alarm if the power goes out, for a cleaner display. The collection is currently missing a bottle, that $2,000 wonder recently savored by a customer.

"It will have to be replaced," Scott Monette says.

What he and his family say can't be replaced is their dedication and love for the restaurant that they believe will keep it thriving into the future, no matter what culinary and decorating trends come into vogue.

Says restaurant consultant Imbergamo: "There aren't that many restaurants in Denver and Boulder that survive that length of time. It's nice to see the Flagstaff House is still thriving."

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